Georgian politics: similarities abound

Georgia has had four governments since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and there are some similarities in those four administrations. All four governments came to power after radical changes.

Zviad Gamsakhurdia’s administration was the first independent government after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Eduard Shevardnadze’s government came to power when Gamsakhurdia was ousted from the country. Mikheil Saakashvili became the leader of the country after the Rose Revolution, and the current Georgian Dream leadership were victorious after the population decided it would no longer tolerate Saakashvili’s administration anymore.

All of these leaders took office based on the waves of hatred that flowed towards the previous administrations. While fighting for the leadership, the new political entities based their election campaign on promises to the population to solve their problems, establish democracy and social welfare.

Unfortunately, all the promises, which start from the elimination of poverty, have not been fulfilled, mostly because neither of the administrations had the financial and economic levers to fulfill their promises. The motivation of changing the former administration was the major driving force of a new government and the slogans were very similar.

Gamsakhurdia wanted to change communists; Shevardnadze labeled Gamsakhurdia’s regime as ‘provincial fascism’; Saakashvili exploited the slogan of moving Shevardnadze from the leadership; whereas the former Georgian Dream leader Bidzina Ivanishvili, together with his supporters, promised to dismantle Saakashvili’s administration.

The term and concept of cohabitation enthusiastically promoted by Georgia’s Western allies last year was essentially unaccepted and ignored by the politicians. The term “cohabitation” turned out to be an insult or joke instead of becoming the cornerstone for cooperation. All four changes in the country triggered the reshuffling and redistribution of the country’s assets available at the time.

Most politicians in any new leadership target receiving a bigger ‘piece of cake’ in return for the loyalty of the new leadership. Aside from Ivanishvili, all the politicians finished their careers richer than they were when they entered politics.

Most representatives of any new administration start doing the same for which they had been criticizing their previous administrations. For instance, even the representatives of the current government in certain cases started receiving higher salaries, bigger bonuses, and buying luxurious cars, forgetting that these were exactly the reasons they were criticizing their predecessors.

So, at first glance, it looks like most of the politicians care for their personal welfare rather than the welfare of the population. All the administrations start receiving financial support from the West, increasing state loans, and inviting big investors mostly for the sake of receiving some benefits.

Thank God, there are some honest patriots devoted to their people and the country. These people do their best to move the country forward. Unfortunately, some cases of dishonesty, corruption and ill conduct remain, and create an unpleasant background in Georgia and the single cases give grounds to the population to generalize the situation.

There is a saying in Georgian that one dirty pig made all the pigs dirty. Be aware of dirty pigs!